The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-09-03

"NAhf '"t b'Ai ypN' 'H'iN w "a
no more laughing among the passen-
gers by the time it come 10 that. and
the children stopped hurrahing"
"Oh. the poor little things! What
did they do3 Were there many on
board? Was there plenty for them TO
eat?n
"That was the worst Of IT, There
wasn't plenty for any one 10 eat. We
had struck just midway Of the feeding
stations, and there wasn't great deal
Of any thing on board besides what
the passengers had in their lunch
baskets. One lady she had tin Of
cOndcnset7nt,k aud they mixed that
up for the babes-therc was ten Of
en- and 50 they got on pretty well.
But there was about five other chill
dren, not babies. but quite little, and
don't know what they would have
done If it hadn't been for the young
lady"
"The young lady" said Miss
Vaughn, looking up with some sur
prise, for with the words n curious
tremble came into the engineer voice.
and a:lark flush into his bronzcd face.
What young lady was that?"
II was moment or two before John
Scott answered the question.
IL don't know what she was called" "
he said. slowly IL never knew She
was the only one on the train, 50 we
just called her the young lady. She
was travelling alone, but her folks had
asked the conductor 10 look after her.
She was going out 10 some relative of
hers. her brother, | guess, who was
sick down to Sacramento. Tha: was
how she came 30 be there"
"Wcrc the children under her carc?"
"No, ma am; she was all alone, as |
told you; but she took them under her
care from the very first They had
their fathers and mothers along-three
Of them had, at least, and the other
two had their mother and a nurse girl,
but somehow no one but the young
lady seemed To be able 10 do any thing
with them. The poor littlo hings was
half starved, you see, and there
wasn't any thing 10 amuse 'em
in the dark car. and one of them. who
was sickly. fretted all day, and most all
night, and the mother didn't seem to
have no faculty or no backbone about
her; but whenever the young lady
came round, that sick young one and
all the rest would stop crying and
seem just as clipper rs if IL were sum
mertimc outdoors and the whole train
full Of candy.
81 don't see how she did it, " he went
on. meditatively, throwing a shovel
ful Of coal in at the furnace door.
"Somc women is made that way, |
suppose. AS soon as we see how
things were going. and how bad they
was likely To be, that girl kind of set
herself TO keep along She had a
mighty gentle way with her. too You'd
never have guessed that she was so
plucky. Plucky! BY George. never
saw anything like her pluck." "
WAS she pretty?" asked Miss
Vaughn. urged by truly feminine Gu
riosity.
"Wcll, don't know if you'd 'a'called
her 80 or not We don't think much
how she looked after tne first She
was n slender-built girl. and her face
looked sort of kind and bright both to
me. Her voice was as soft-woll, as
soft "a voice can be, and 1t kind of
sang when she felt happy. She looked
you straight in the eyes when she
spoke don't believe the worst man
that ever lived could have told that
girl lie if it had been to save his life.
Her hair was brown. She was differ
cnt from girls in general. somehow.
IL think we may say that she was
pretty" observed Miss Vaughn, with
Il little smile.
al amt SO sure of that There's
plenty of ladies come over the road
since that | suppose folks would say
was better looking than she was. But
never see any face quite like hers
1t was still, like n lake. and you seemed
10 feel as if there was depths to il.
And the farther YOU went down, the
swcctcr il got She never made any
ruStling when she walked. She wasn't
that kind.
Another pause, which Miss Vaughn
was careful not to break.
al don't know what them children
would "a done without her." went on
the engineer, as if talking to himself
Then, with sudden energy. IL don't
know what any of us would "a done
without her. The only trouble was
that she couldn't be every whore at
once. There was sick lady in the
drawing-room end of one of the
Pulmans. She had weak lungs, and
was going out to California for the
benefit of her health. Wen. the cold
and the snow brought on hemorrhagc.
That was the second day after we was
blockaded. There wasn't no doc
tor on board. and her husband
he was mighty scared. He comes
through 10 the front car 10 find
the conductor. looking pale as \ ghost.
My wife's dying said he. Amt
there no medical man on the trainP'
And when we said no he just gave n
groan. Then she must die, he said.
Great heavcns' Why did bring her
on this fatal journeyP "
"Pcrhaps the young ladyu have
some remedies. suggested one of the